The present invention relates to a system and apparatus for providing for the ozone cleansing and sanitation of parts, equipment and processing plants employed to process food or other organic material and more particularly, to a clean-in-place system and apparatus for sanitizing in-line equipment employed to process fluid material in which the equipment is normally cleaned by fluid washing and rinsing in a through-put similar to that used for the processed medium.
Clean-in-place systems are employed in a wide variety of industrial installations, and particularly in food processing plants to clean flow through pipes, storage tanks, cooking vessels and the like. These systems are referred to as clean-in-place systems because systems are cleaned by the passage of cleansing fluids loaded with soaps, detergents, etc., without dismantling the equipment or processing plant.
Cleaning is generally accomplished by breaking the processing plant down, removing small parts and exposing the larger parts to access. The small parts are cleansed separately while the larger in-situ parts are cleansed by first circulating water through the system as a first rinse. Then, cleaning chemicals are heated and circulated through the system to clean any remaining dirt out of the pipes or equipment. Next, the system is generally rinsed until "clean".
The use of ozone as a sanitizer is disclosed in "Ozone, The Process Water Steriliant" by Carl and Theresa Nebel, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, April, 1984; Ozone Reduces Drying Odors 75-100% Joran, Russ et al, Food Processing, vol. 42, p. 44(1), Feb., 1981; Comparative Assessment of Chlorine, Heni, Ozone, and UV Light for Killing Legionella pneumophilia within a Model Plumbing System, Muvaca, et al, Applied And Environmental Microbiology, Feb, 1987 pp. 447-453; vol. 53, No. 2; Effect of Ozone on Bacterial Flora in Poultry During Refrigerated Storage, Nieto, J.C. et al., Int. Journal Refrigeration, 1984, vol. 7, No. 6, pp. 389,392; Stability of Ozone and its Germicidal Properties on Poultry Meat Microorganisms in Liquid Ozone, Yang, P.P.W. et al., Journal of Food Science, vol. 44(2) March/April, 1979, pp0. 501-504; Ozone Inactivation of Bacillus and Clastridium Spore Population and the Importance of Spore Cost to Resistance, Food Microbiology, Apr., 1985, vol. 2(2), pp. 123-134.
U.S. Pat. 4,409,188 deals with a device for sterilization of containers with ozone and U.S. Pat. 509,163 discloses a process for liberating ozone. Other patents employing ozone as sanitizing agents include U.S. Pat. 1,180,372; 3,549,528; 4,273,660; 4,549,477 and 4,655,932.
In spite of the subject matter of the above-identified patents and articles, there still exists a need for the provision of an improved sanitiing system or method and apparatus for accomplishing the same result in an efficient yet simple manner.
For example, among the problems inherent in the use of ozone is the fact that it is a gas and as such, it is highly volitile dissipating and evaporating under normal conditions, and in use, requires pressurization and enclosed, sealed chambers, to provide sufficient flow and density to be effective as a bactericide. These difficulties are exacerbated then attempting to cleanse elongated processing equipment which must first be washed with hot soapy water and rinsed thereafter with warm water.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a system for cleansing long or large processing plants using ozone sterilization, in which the problems and disadvantages enumerated above are overcome.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and apparatus for employing ozone as a sanitizing agent in which the handling of the ozone is provided simply, efficiently and economically.
It is yet another object of the present invention in which an ozone sanitizing system is provided which can be adapted for various clean-in-place manufacturing, processing and even disposal systems.
The foregoing objects and advantages, as well as others, will be apparent from the following disclosure of the present invention.